According to research by Randstad Financial & Professional, in the twelve months to October 2014, 1,004,000, regulated loans were advanced in total, up 11% on the twelve months to October 2013, and 16% on the 12 months to October 2012.
The research has also found that as the market improves, the number of jobs available has soared, with half of mortgage professionals (52%) saying they only had one interview before landing their current role, with another quarter only requiring two (27%).
Mortgage roles now require just 2.1 interviews on average, down from 2.9 last year, as competition for talented employees increases.
Tara Ricks, MD of Randstad Financial & Professional, said:
“Memories of the great recession are fading. The economy is back on its feet and the UK is currently the fastest growing country in the developed world. The number of jobs is soaring, not least in the mortgage industry where business has clearly improving a great deal since the dark days of 2012. We’re currently recruiting for a significant number of mortgage advisors to work in the retail banking sector – the situation is utterly unrecognisable from two years ago. There should be a lot of spare capacity in the market – in the 12 months to October 2007, the industry was writing twice as much business as it is now – but a lot of mortgage professionals retired early when the crunch hit and lenders, brokers, and packagers alike have been left fighting over a smaller talent pool as they gear back up to write significant volumes of business.”
“In the time it takes to invite people back for third or fourth interviews, the best candidates are being snapped up by rivals. This is good news for people frustrated with the protracted interview processes of the recession – but it also means candidates aren’t getting then chance to show their true colours if they haven’t made a good first impression.”
The research also found that many mortgage professionals feel too out of practice to take full advantage of the booming market, with three-fifths (61%) saying they now find interviews harder than they did before the crisis took hold.
Tara Ricks added:
“There are plenty of people working in the mortgage industry who have done several rounds of job interviews over the course of their careers – people who were used to moving employers once every three years or so before the crunch hit. But, since then, many of them haven’t had a great deal of opportunity to brush up on their technique as they’ve found themselves sticking with the same employer. The job opportunities just haven’t been there or, in a tricky market, they’ve wanted the extra job security of bedding down in a company. But, after a tough few years, the jobs market has improved dramatically. If mortgage professionals don’t want to miss out on new opportunities, they might want to start sharpening their job-hunting skills.”
